According to CNN, Apple and other digital download services are in talks with record labels to up music files from 16-bit to pristine, high-fidelity 24-bit. But while Macs can handle 24-bit music already, iPods and iPhones would need to be retooled to accommodate the sweet sounds. Soon please! [CNN] »2/22/11 11:29am 2/22/11 11:29am

Confession: I still buy my music online instead of torrenting it. And after years of enduring an unfulfilling relationship with iTunes, last month I finally broke things off. I headed over to Amazon. I haven't looked back yet. »12/28/10 3:20pm 12/28/10 3:20pm

As expected, Blockbuster has filed bankruptcy today in the US, after shuttering over 1,500 stores in the past year. The remaining 3,000 or so stores will stay open—though for how long, who knows. [Bloomberg] »9/23/10 7:00am 9/23/10 7:00am

Apple's stronghold on the music industry is greater than once thought. After knocking Walmart off the top of the ladder back in 2008, iTunes now sells more music than both Walmart and Best Buy put together these days. »5/21/10 10:23am 5/21/10 10:23am

Fighting back against the downloaders, a new music file format by the name of MusicDNA has been introduced by the people who created the MP3, which will bundle a heap of bonus content with the music file. »1/25/10 11:21am 1/25/10 11:21am

Tim Quirk was the singer of punk-pop outfit Too Much Joy, signed by Warner Bros. in 1990. Now he's an executive at an online music service, giving him insight on digital sales data and just how labels fudge their numbers.»12/02/09 4:40pm 12/02/09 4:40pm

Didn't hear? Dell launched a download store in January. Today they became the only third-party retailer to sell Microsoft downloads. Problem is, they sell Office Home and Student for $130, where Amazon sells it, in the box, for $95. [Dell] »6/11/09 2:14pm 6/11/09 2:14pm

CDs originally came in long boxes with amazing art. Word went around that they'd go away, since hippies—like Sting—were pissed off about killing trees, but I was sad. Music packaging says a lot about music. »4/16/09 6:00pm 4/16/09 6:00pm

iTunes, Netflix, Amazon and even PSN are all pretty good at distributing downloadable movies and music. But all of these data files, as easy as they are to buy, make for a crappy gift. »2/25/09 5:00pm 2/25/09 5:00pm

Microsoft is just now launching a real online store? Yep. It's still definitely a 1.0 experience—not a bad start, just very basic. You can buy meatspace goods like hardware, software discs and Xbox 360 games, but the kicker is that you can directly download software now, even Windows and Office. It seems wrong that…
»11/14/08 10:45am 11/14/08 10:45am

While standard definition digital downloads are still gaining in popularity, Vudu has been actively building their HD catalog of streaming films. This week, Vudu adds 389 HD movies to break 1,000 HD titles available for streaming (actually, breaking 1,100 but that sounds so much less impressive). Vudu claims their…
»11/10/08 7:56am 11/10/08 7:56am